How to mail resumes

This is a total newb question but how do you mail your resume, cover letter, clips, etc.? I want to make sure I send it so it looks professional but at the same time I'd like to avoid getting murdered by shipping fees. Thanks in advance.

Once upon a time, I took to putting my mailings in red manila-style envelopes, just to stand out from the crowd. I can't say it ever got me a job, but once or twice interviewers remarked, and not in a negative way, about the red envelopes. So what the heck.

I emailed the majority of mine, mailing if requested (when I eventually got a job it was one of the places I emailed). When I mailed I had a blue pocket folder with all that stuff inside of it put inside a manila envelope.

Staple it to a postcard. It will show them you're resourceful and probably won't be the type to waste pens and notebooks.

Seriously, if costs a couple of bucks to look professional, why wouldn't you do it? Make sure everything is uniform in size so it doesn't all go spilling out of the envelope when it's opened. Try to look like you know what you're doing. That also includes taking it to the Post Office so you get one of those nice clean postage labels instead of 400 one-cent stamps, and you also make sure the thing won't arrive postage due.

Ditto. Most of the time, I would just send them to the e-mail address, mostly because I was a college student who was an editor for the student newspaper and I didn't have time to go to the post office.

I got a job based on an e-mail application, so I don't think it makes you look less professional. If they give you an e-mail address (and many of them do because they know just as well as we do how much a pain in the butt the USPS is), I'd say it's okay to just e-mail the files. One tip: I'd .pdf everything (cover letter and resume and the whole nine yards) so that there's no chance of them not having your Word Processing program.

I never e-mail applications. I've been told by numerous editors that they hate having to print things on their own, plus that it's easier to pass your information around if it's sitting right in front of them.

I never e-mail applications. I've been told by numerous editors that they hate having to print things on their own, plus that it's easier to pass your information around if it's sitting right in front of them.

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I figure that if someone includes an email address in the ad it means they don't mind it. I made sure to mail if it specifically requested that (obviously) or if I saw on a thread here that the SE would prefer that.

Ditto. Most of the time, I would just send them to the e-mail address, mostly because I was a college student who was an editor for the student newspaper and I didn't have time to go to the post office.

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TrueSon,

If you want the job you are applying for bad enough, you will find the time to go to the post office. If they say e-mail is fine, that's one thing. But I'm always amazed at people who say they want a job yet aren't willing to do the little things it takes to get it.

I never e-mail applications. I've been told by numerous editors that they hate having to print things on their own, plus that it's easier to pass your information around if it's sitting right in front of them.

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I figure that if someone includes an email address in the ad it means they don't mind it. I made sure to mail if it specifically requested that (obviously) or if I saw on a thread here that the SE would prefer that.

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To each their own, and if you got hired then congrats. Just relating how I've approached the situation in the past.

Endure the inconvenience and expense and send a hard copy. The SE can toss it in his briefcase and take it home, he can read it while he's eating, he can read it in the crapper, he can read it in bed. He can read it while he's in the car waiting to pick up his kids after their ballet class.

He can do all that with the e-mailed resume, too, but he has to print it out. And what if the printer is broken or needs toner, or is in use, or is out of paper, or is too many steps from his chair?

And don't go overboard on the clips -- the ad asks for a certain number, send that many ...

A few years back, I had an opening at a daily sports department I ran ... got lots of resumes, including one from a guy up North who had lots of desk and writing experience, but he forgot to include his clips ... curious as to what he had done in the past, I called the guy up and asked him to fax me his clips ...

He did so -- more than 100 pages worth ... needless to say, the office manager at the paper was a little pissed at me ... and he didn't get the job ...